A deep shadow lurked in Monde’s eyes.

Natural talent was truly crucial. Teaching a bright child was effortless – they would understand with just a hint. But a dull child… no, how could he have a dull child? Even if he had to push Heidi from behind, he would make her toward success.

“Don’t forget today’s humiliation. Remember everything, and leave the rest to my arrangements.”

Heidi couldn’t forget the shame of fleeing Cornell University like a beaten dog, leaving Ithaca under the cover of night. With her abilities lacking, she naturally could only follow her father Monde’s arrangements.

The family arrived at their New York residence at 1 AM.

Monde wasn’t sleepy at all. Alone in his study, he opened the briefcase brought from Cornell. Inside were some design drawings – copies he had obtained from the School of Architecture.

If Xia Xiaolan had been present, she would have been quite surprised. This pile of designs included the “Electronic Plaza” she had completed with her teammate, and Ning Xue’s “Library on the Cliff,” along with their routine assignments and even the portfolios they had used to apply to Cornell University.

While an ordinary person might not see anything special in these design drafts, a Pritzker Architecture Prize winner—certainly a contemporary architectural master—could discern so much from these designs and assignments! Without meeting them, he could not understand Xia Xiaolan and Ning Xue’s capabilities through their work, their design approaches, and their styles. Every detail was exposed.

Ning Xue’s designs showed “spirit,” which aligned with what Monde had heard about her. This female student had secured admission to Cornell with high scores, and her family elder was a renowned architectural master in China. She had both solid foundations and natural talent – born to study architecture.

This made Monde somewhat jealous. Ning Xue was what Heidi should have become – with a master architect’s guidance, Heidi shouldn’t be at her current level. Could it be that he was inferior to the Chinese architectural master?

No, that couldn’t be it—it had to be Heidi’s aptitude. Monde was definitely a life winner—he had married a beautiful wife in his youth and established his own studio. Not everyone could afford to maintain a wife who had participated in beauty pageants; which required certain financial foundations.

Heidi’s birth had once made Monde happy. Though she hadn’t fully inherited her mother’s beauty, that wasn’t important – beauty needed to rely on men to maintain, while a clever mind could support one for life.

However, as Heidi grew older, Monde couldn’t deceive himself anymore. Heidi had neither inherited her mother’s beauty nor his intelligent mind. She was just an ordinary child! Monde had many successful works, but now it seemed Heidi might become his most failed “work” in life… no, this was something Monde absolutely wouldn’t allow.

He put down Ning Xue’s portfolio and turned to examine Xia Xiaolan’s. Then Monde frowned. What a mess of fundamentals, completely without any traceable pattern! While Ning Xue’s works revealed “spirit,” Xia Xiaolan’s works only showed “chaos”!

Viewed individually, Xia Xiaolan’s works appeared more mature and commercialized than Ning Xue’s. But Monde wasn’t just anyone – he could see through appearances to the essence. Although Xia Xiaolan’s “Electronic Plaza” won first place in the C·W design competition, it couldn’t hide her chaos. Her award-winning work and routine assignments kept changing styles.

This was the mark of an… architect who hadn’t found her design style yet and was still frantically exploring. Monde could understand Ning Xue through her works, but he couldn’t fully comprehend Xia Xiaolan. Perhaps even Xia Xiaolan herself couldn’t fully understand herself.

Monde flipped through Xia Xiaolan’s portfolio, which Mao Kangshan had asked her to prepare before coming to Cornell University. It contained all her works before February this year, including:

The renovation design for the South Sea Hotel

The renovation design for Pengcheng City Committee Guest House

The office building design commissioned by Huo Chenzhou

The Golden Sand Pool residence

These could all be counted as Xia Xiaolan’s works. Adding the Electronic Plaza, her level was apparent. Of course, due to the portfolio’s compilation timing, the villa renovation design she did for Tang Yuanyue in Hong Kong wasn’t included, but missing this work didn’t matter much.

This portfolio was something even Professor McCarthy probably hadn’t had the chance to see – Monde’s ability to obtain even this was truly impressive!

Ning Xue’s disadvantage lay in not having Xia Xiaolan’s resources or practical experience. Xia Xiaolan always worked on major projects, making her portfolio look substantial. Naturally, the professors who reviewed this portfolio wouldn’t confuse “works” with actual construction – they would at most think she was mature, without assuming all these designs had been implemented.

This exceeded their understanding of undergraduate students and didn’t align with American industry regulations. Monde’s view was different – he found Xia Xiaolan very “chaotic.” Putting down the portfolio, Monde organized his thoughts.

He needed more evidence to see Xia Xiaolan. This Chinese student had previously interned at GMP’s New York office, right? The partner at GMP New York was Kissinger.

Monde could certainly contact Kissinger, but considering it was already 3 AM, he didn’t call immediately. Waiting until 9 AM, Monde contacted Kissinger.

After exchanging pleasantries, Monde inquired about Xia Xiaolan. Kissinger felt somewhat nervous – the partner had been quite fond of Xia Xiaolan. With her natural connections and capabilities, she was the kind of intern who should have stayed at GMP forever. Even when Mrs. Wilson later seemed to have fallen out with Xia Xiaolan and started causing trouble, Kissinger still helped her.

“Has she gotten into any trouble?” Kissinger probed cautiously. This Xia was troublesome! Of course, Kissinger was always more lenient with capable people. If it had been someone less exceptional, the partner wouldn’t waste words asking about a former intern’s situation, being busy with numerous matters.

“No, no trouble. I happened to see her portfolio and wanted to learn about her situation. I heard she had interned at GMP.”

Monde’s words made Kissinger alert. What, did Monde want to poach Xia Xiaolan for the Dawson Studio? Hmph! If GMP couldn’t retain Xia Xiaolan, why would Kissinger help the competition by promoting her to Monde?

“Oh, just an ordinary intern. Let me think… I can’t remember. I have some work to handle, goodbye.”

Click. Kissinger hung up.

Monde felt something suspicious about Kissinger’s attitude. Not only did this fail to dispel his doubts, but it made Monde more curious. If she had been just an ordinary intern, how could Kissinger remember her immediately?

Kissinger’s contradictory behavior suggested he was trying to hide something. Monde put down the phone and suddenly had an absurd thought: Could Kissinger think he wanted to compete with GMP for talent?

This situation made Monde determined to get to the bottom of it. If Kissinger hadn’t told him, Monde would have known others. After some effort, he managed to learn about Xia Xiaolan’s internship situation at GMP.

“Broadway Theater renovation?”

Monde decided to go see for himself.